An electromagnetically operated fuel injection valve having multiple disk-shaped elements arranged in its seat area is described in German Patent No. 39 43 005. Upon excitation of a magnetic circuit, a flat valve plate acting as a flat armature lifts up from a valve seat plate situated opposite and interacting with the valve plate, together forming a plate valve part. A swirl element, which sets the fuel flowing to the valve seat in a circular rotary motion, is located upstream from the valve seat plate. A stop plate limits the axial displacement of the valve plate on the side opposite the valve seat plate. The swirl element surrounds the valve plate, leaving a large amount of clearance; the swirl element thus guides the valve plate to a certain degree. At the lower end of the swirl element several tangential grooves provided that begin at the outer circumference and extend all the way to a central swirl chamber. When the lower end of the swirl element lies against the valve seat plate, the grooves become swirl channels.
A fuel injection valve having a multi-disk atomizing attachment with a swirl conditioning element located at its downstream end is described in International Patent Publication No. WO 96/11335. This atomizing attachment is provided downstream from a disk-shaped guide element built into a valve seat carrier and from a valve seat also located on the valve carrier, with an additional supporting element holding the atomizing attachment in a defined position. The atomizing attachment is designed in two-disk and four-disk versions, with the individual disks being made of stainless steel or silicon. Likewise, conventional machining methods such as erosion, punching, and etching are used in producing the geometries of the openings in the disks. Each individual disk of the atomizing attachment is produced separately, after which all disks of the same size are stacked on top of one another to form the complete atomizing attachment, depending on the desired number of disks.
The multilayer electroplating method for producing perforated disks that are especially well suited for use in fuel injection valves have been described in detail in German Patent Application No. 196 07 288. This principle for manufacturing disks by electrodepositing different structures in multiple layers, thus forming a one-piece disk, is expressly included in the content of the disclosure of the present invention. Microelectroplating in layers, strata and levels is also used for producing the atomizer disks used here and installed according to the present invention.